Noisy Abdomen

Saw this on another thread (stomach noises)...

http://www.eh ealthforum.com/health/topic37289.html

"I also had very low iron when I got the test, and lo and behold, celiac disease prevents the absorption of vitamins and minerals (like iron). It all makes sense now"

Any chance your anaemia/iron deficiency could be caused by an intolerance to gluten?? Just an idea.

Sorry to be the odd one - but I don't have that feeling of hunger every hour or so. Never have really. Sorry to break the chain Or am I?!

On another note - a friend of mine has that - but he's okay. i.e, doesn't have any of our problems. He just needs to eat alllll the time. And yet he is very very very thin.

Metabolism thing? Unrelated? I wonder...

Welsh_girl - I agree I don't think we are suffering from IBS - it sounds like that for the majority of us at least - if the noises/sounds from our tum tums disappeared tomorrow, none of us would be back on this board ever again and I'm sure we'd all be regular as clockwork so to speak! Well that's me anyway.

If the noises go, then the anxiety would go, then the resulting nervous disposition that perhaps causes any IBS-like similarities...

If we could just make the noises go..!

I still think its some intolerance. Would be funny if it turned out we were allergic to something like water! Now that would be difficult to work around

Anyway - Happy St. Patricks Day to one and all!

Still think that we are lucky that we have to read this thread and not some other... I mean, what we have.. its not the worst.

Irishlad out.

Well i did go to see a GP last night and guess what - they put it down to IBS again. I guessed that it would be the verdict. I asked about the possibility of food intolerances or yeast overgrowth but she dismissed those ideas and just went on to talk about IBS and how nothing can really be done about it. Completely ignored my thrush, athlete's foot etc - said that i probably wash too often!! So thats it, i'm doomed to spend the rest of my life with embarrassing stomach noises

I would say that going to the GP was a waste of time, but i think that if we all keep on reporting these problems then they may have to start taking us a bit more seriously. She did prescribe me some peppermint oil capsules and said that they may help as the noises are probably caused by trapped wind moving about. Who knows, she may be right, but i'm not entirely convinced. She could have at least tested my theories and put my mind at rest...

At least you went welsh_girl! That's annoying alright - same result as most people too. A few years ago I met a doc *informally* but still explained the situation which they wrote off as IBS. I don't have IBS!

Argh!

I hate doctors.

Whenever I go back to a doc - I'm going to print off the 36 pages of this thread and throw it in their face! "Read it!" I'll say! Apparently this thread has had well over 70,000 hits too. Granted I'm probably responsible for 50,000 of them - but thats still a lot!

Gosh I feel like starting a campaign now or something. Stop the noise!!

Do you guys ever think back to when you didnt have this problem?! Its funny how even the simplest things we used to do - that seemed so trivial at the time - can make you smile now!?! I used to breeze into classrooms and exams for instance... amazing how everything changes. I hate the way as well, say you're having a chat with someone - you end up thinking about your stomach. Its crazy!

Its funny too, when I was in final year at school, I studied Emily Dickinson's poetry as part of my Leaving Cert course. I have a vivid memory sitting in class reading about how she was a recluse and thinking, 'how could anyone ever do that?'. She used to spend her whole life sitting in her room apparently. Granted we're not that bad I suspect - but maybe she just had a noisy stomach?! Preposterous I know!!

Same here. My doctor say's it's IBS too.

I know that it's not IBS in the way most people think about it, but I think he does have a point in that it is related to the digestive system not acting in a smooth consistent manner. I remember finding an article on the internet about a year ago where they had found in studies going back to the beginning of the last century that borborygmous(noises in the stomach) can be related to stress.

It's amazing how many people I've seen here have so many common symptoms. Most people have no problems in the morning. 95% of the time for me, I have no problems in the morning. I can sit in hour long meetings from 10 to 11 with no problem every Monday morning. Right after lunch is when my problems starts. It seems that when I am digesting that meal and for a few hours afterwards, I get noises and if I have a meeting I'm screwed!!

Also, in the evenings after work I have almost no problems. I am putting that down to the fact that I am much more relaxed when I am out of the work environment. It's come to the point where I just don't like being at work. Hard to tell if my dislike of being at work came before the noises or vice versa... but it's become a daily ordeal dealing with this thing.

Irishlad, i agree, i also feel like starting a campaign of some sort! To raise awareness and force the medical practitioners to take us seriously. 36 pages and 70,000 hits should not be ignored, and we are not the only thread/forum on here discussing this topic. The doctors may be correct when they diagnose IBS - but for all of us?? More recently i have started to develop stomach pain and discomfort and so it is starting to sound a little more like IBS, but many people are suffering from the noises alone. And even IBS could be caused by some type of food intolerance or sensitivity.

And yes, i do think back to a time when i didn't have this problem, when lectures and exams were nothing to worry about. I wish it had stayed that way. All i seem to think about is my stomach these days!

Matt, your noises appear to have more of a 'routine' than mine do. With me it can happen at any time of the day or night. As i said in a previous post, i sometimes wake up with a gurgling/popping/whining/creaking belly, and very often go to bed with one! They happen just as frequently when i am at home as anywhere else.

I have four weeks off over Easter before i have to go back to sitting in quiet lecture rooms, and then five exams to get through. I really want to try and get this sorted before that time comes, highly unlikely i know. I have started to write down all that i eat and am hoping to pinpoint some sort of a trigger. Although i am not holding my breath...

welsh girl, you should definetly not accept that diagnoses and if theyre telling you theres nothing that can be done i would change docors, or go back and demand to be reffered to a nutritionist or someone that deals with diegestive problems. iva had sinus problems for years and they always fobbed me of with sinus infecions and anti bitoics, whcih never did anything, it was only when they finally refered me to a specialist that they found the problem. theres is simply no way this is just ibs.

and as for the anemia, mine isnt caused by ceoliacs, but youre right most celiac sufferers are anemic becasue it destroys their absorption, so that may be the case for some people.

people have said about not feeling well, i feel like death, everyday is a struggle for me, i severall illnesses and chronic fatigue from my anemia and probably largly due to the digestive problems as well.

the digestive system is one of the most important parts ofthe body, when it isnt working properly, it can really mess you up and cause all sorts of problems, i think extreme fatigue is quite common with digestive issues,

but i have things like brain fog, problems with memoery, thinking and messing up words, depression, extreme anxiety, many many candida symptoms. this is one thing i really want to get tested for but i dnt know how, doctors seem to be so against it and quick to shrug it off, and i dont want to go to a natural or herbal doctor on the street and get ripped off by some fake test. cant win!

Hi Everyone,

I love this site so much, reading your messages makes my heart lift a little

I've had a very rough few days, the noises haven't been particularly bad but my anxiety has sky-rocketed! Ive not been sleeping well, waking up in cold sweats, very teary. I didn't go into work yesterday-couldn't face it but i went today and it went well. Im off now for the easter break so im hoping to relax. It's weird though, being away from the 'silence' actually makes me worse as i start thinkg 'what if i go back to work and the noises are so terrible i can't cope', i actually think im a bit skrewed up in the head!!

Im off the iron tablets so hopefully my stomach will settle but i've got to try a different type next week HW-i was taking ferrous sulphate.

Someone suggested (think it was welsh girl) that it could be connected to cealiac's, interesting to read and maybe worth a try.

I'd also like to thank David for his post, i've taken real comfort from what you wrote especially about being your own best friend. I have a tendency to be very hard on myself and beat myself up when i can't do things (not literally )

Irishlad-i dare you to print these pages out and dump them on your gp's desk!!!!!! do it, do it, do it:wink: Jen - out

PS, i think these doctors are real n*bheads. They get paid £100k a year and they're not doing their jobs, i could sit there and tell someone they had 'IBS' for free, does it really take 10 years to train someone to do that!! They should be ashamed of themselves! They'd be a bit keener to investigate if they were having to sit at their desks with their own stomachs embarrasing them infront of every patient, then id like to see them say 'it's IBS, there's nothing i can do, you need to relax!!'

Hi HW and Welshgirl, you posted while i was typing so i hope you're still around! I forgot to say HW that there are lots of herbal anxiety treatments available, i don't use any but my friend swears by 'rescue remedy', its a herbal preparation, you put a few drops on your tongue or mix it with water, you can get it from Boots and there's lots to choose from.

I started taking ph basic last night and have also decided to stop drinking tea at work. I had lunch a couple of hours ago and unusually for me I've had no problems since lunch.

My ph test on the strip in ph basic showed up about two levels more acidic than what is considered normal. I'll see if ph basic corrects my stomach acid levels and if it relieves my symptoms over the next week or two.

I drink a lot of tea and coffee.. especially coffee. 3-5 cups every day without fail. I was considering cutting it out to see if that makes any difference?

Is there anyone here that doesnt drink either of them already? I don't wanna go wasting my time on something thats been done - especially when I could be spending my time drinking coffee!

Just thought of it, you know?!

Jen, No chance of me arriving at the GP at the mo. 'Professional' people charge too much and for all the fun it would be to throw the book at them, so to speak, I think I prefer having my beloved euro in my own pocket rather than theirs... I need that money to live, ironically...!

Welsh_girl - I think I mentioned it back there somewhere - but before every exam in college (finally finished last year), I would either go running or to the gym before the exam because I found that it seemed to relieve my anxiety. So if my exam was at 9am, I'd be out running.. no matter what.
Like David mentioned, I always sit by the door too because it gives that feeling of 'control'. As well - there's always more noise by a door with it opening/closing, people outside etc. Also - I would always try to get a seat by the window and open it... If anyone tried to close it I'd tell them to shove it! Summer no probs - but you can imagine the winter exams! Cold! But anyway, the noise from outside was often quite loud - which suited no one but moi! You gotta do what you gotta do.
I'd also arrive late for all my exams too - so that way I knew I only *had* to stay there for whatever amount of time I felt comfortable. I might be on my own on this one - mentioned it to someone and they thought I was crazayy! But whatever works for you!! coheed mentioned that exercise doesnt help - sounds like it works for a few of us tho.

eric, hope you're okay - that sounds hard going.. Best of luck with the new pills. Question, in general do you feel better or worse for taking all the pills in general? (Not having a dig - just wondering)

Matt - just noticed that you posted about the Tea - a coincidence or what!

Ah, so many people to reply to, so this is going to be generic:

tea.. I drink fairly often, doesn't upset me whatsoever, although I drink the ones that are supposed to aid.
coffee... I drink rarely, a few times a month at best, but for a while over Christmas break I was drinking it almost every day, and did have a slight increase of noises.

Welsh girl, I wanted to tell you that I get pain in my stomach sometimes. Not as often anymore since I've changed my diet, but today in class, in the left side of my intestines I had like a heavy, nauseous, pain. It went away pretty fast, but currently my whole stomach kind of feels, off kilter so to speak. Uneasy, I guess.

I know HP has mentioned before that there is no .. system to it. I can feel nauseous and oily one day, and then not have to use the restroom the entire next day. There isn't a consistency that I can pinpoint. Also, i've noticed that for a while back, before Christmas break, I was using the bathroom and seeing completely undigested food, and maybe I just kept coming across food poisoning, but I can't dismiss it. The pains that would come before would make me fall over.

Also, I know some of you have mentioned the extreme fatigue, that is the part that worries me most.

Irishlad, I DO plan on exercising more haha.. I used to take my dog for a walk almost every day, but park schedules conflict with my class lately... it only sometimes seems to help. When I used to actually go RUNNING or jogging in the mornings, I'd feel pretty great. But I haven't had much time for that either... I also said I was going to take up Yoga.. but.. no time yet.
I do feel that exercise will help me, I just need routine I think.. and time. At the very least, it will help with stress..

jen, I hate to hear about your anxiety.. that really is the worst part for me.. but it is good to hear from you regardless!

And Eric, on a side note.. lately at night I've been feeling as if I have an excess of acid running around my body, but there's just so many symptoms, it's hard to focus.. I hope something works out for you soon.

I've decided to take a break here and there from writing as frequently in this forum, as I feel I'm getting redundant. But I do keep reading every day to see what everyone new has to say. I'm not taking anything right now to help myself, just hoping that a shift in diet will help... we'll see.

I meant HW (helpwanted) Not HP.. my computer is an HP and my mind is elsewhere today...

To answer Irishlad's question, I have found that coffee is definitely a trigger for me. I stopped drinking it a few months back although I have a cup every now and then at the weekends when I'm not worried about noises. Black tea(like people drink in Britain and Ireland) is also a trigger for me, but not as bad as coffee.

I've been using PH Basic and another natural remedy called Reflux-Away for the last couple of days and it seems to be helping. Not a miracle cure, but I've noticed my stomach has settled down quite a bit.

hmmm.. suppose il give the old cafe a miss for a few days. easier said than done - was about to hook it up to the i.v!

this thread is a bit like that film Momento is it not?! wonder will we ever solve the noise!

Hi guys,
Glad to see the thread is still active....the more information sharing the better, in my opinion.

I saw that people had both mentioned exercise and cold/flu as aggravating their symptoms, and I just wanted to add that my noises are much worse when I have a cold or something as well, and insufficient sleep is terrible, too.

Exercise can also have a terrible impact on my system. Oddly, enough, I've had the same snowboarding experience...the minute we'd get off the slopes, my stomach would just go crazy for the rest of the evening and night. Also, intensive workouts at the gym or martial arts facilities (yeah, I used to be well enough to be pretty physically active) could also stimulate horrible afternoons or evenings of distress.

And as for doctors....I want to smack the heck out of any doctor who gives me that condescending smile the minute I start talking about 'stomach noises'. I can SEE their eyes glaze over as they parrot the word 'normal' and cease listening to me at that point. Unfortunately, this is one of those problems you sort of have to have to understand.

Hi thumb..

I'm glad to hear about your snowboarding experience, it reaffirms that this is clearly something shared.